Suhoerok, Chungju

This Suhoerok is a one-volume manuscript, compiled in 1665, the sixth year of King Hyeonjong's reign, recording the membership roster, poems and activities of a Confucian scholars' society (yugye) formed by elderly scholars (giro) aged seventy or above who lived in the Chungju area of Chungcheong Province. It concerns people who were born around the 1590s. Judging from the cyclical date on which Kim Jeong-hyeon (1591-1675) and Jo Ok (1595-?) issued the Chilsiphoe Tongmun (Notice of the Society of Septuagenarians) on the eighteenth day of the first month of the Eulsa year, the meeting of the Girohoe recorded here is thought to have been held in 1665 (Eulsa, the sixth year of King Hyeonjong). This Suhoerok likewise concerns people born around the 1590s. A seal belonging to Kim Yu-geun (pen name Hwangsan, 1785-1840) is stamped on it, suggesting that the manuscript was copied out during his lifetime. A 'Yamazumi' book-collector's seal is also stamped on it, indicating that it was once in the possession of a Japanese owner. The cover title reads Suhoerok. The cover itself appears to have been replaced at a later date, reusing hanji paper that had previously been used for calligraphy practice. It is bound with five stitch-holes, using cord. The ruled lines are about 2.2 cm apart, and the characters measure between 1.2 and 1.5 cm. It comprises 64 pages. It opens with a circular letter written by Kim Jeong-hyeon and Jo Ok, followed by the Chilsiphoe Jwamok, the roster of Girohoe members. The members listed - Yi Si-ryang, An Gwon, Yu Yeong-hui, Jeong Hun, Jeong Si-tae, Kim Jeong-hyeon, Chungneungjeong, Yun Hyeong-gye, Bak Gyeom, Jo Ok, Han Gu, Yun Yeo-jing, Yi (name illegible), Jeong (name illegible), Kim I, Kim Ik-gi, Kim Gi-gon and Kim Eung-hae, eighteen in all - have their courtesy names, year of birth in the sexagenary cycle, and ancestral seat recorded. This is followed by a preface to celebratory verses written by Kim Eung-hae and Jeong Tae-je, a colophon by Song Si-yeol, celebratory verses by the Girohoe members, and finally a colophon by Nam Gu-man. The Girohoe originated in the Goryeo period as a fellowship of retired scholar-officials (chisa), modelled on the Jungnim-gohoe (Lofty Gathering of the Bamboo Grove), a group formed by literati who withdrew into the mountains during the military rule of Goryeo to pursue fellowship and literary activity. That this Suhoerok, Chungju bears colophons by Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam) and Nam Gu-man (pen name Yakcheon) is in itself enough to suggest the literary and scholarly renown of this roster of elders, giving the work considerable academic value; moreover, because it records the names and activities of the elderly scholars who lived in the Chungju area, it is also a valuable source for studying the background of sarim literature, the literature of the Confucian scholar-official class.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Chungju, Chungbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료